Dear Aparna,
I have appreciated two of the comments above, and in Kolkata, especially in a Marwadi-owned family set-up, the initial business was based on trading and all of it was based on trust. Later on, the culture was more about "chalta-hai" kind, and people took their jobs for granted or else they had political clout to make their employers squirm. Given that there is a new government in Bengal, things have not changed much. That attitude of taking things for granted has to be stopped.
Now, being a young girl in HR, which is often not taken seriously, I am sharing with you a wicked way of putting those uncles on the hot seat. You will have to take the boss into confidence. Find out how many of those 60 uncles are his pets. Then make a list of those who aren't and what they do. Then start hiring either full-time employees or interns for the same work they do. Pretend that the uncles will be eased out if they do not start working. This will do the job and keep them on their toes.
Next wicked way is to install CCTV. This is simpler. Keep the monitor in the boss's cabin. Everyone will work. Also, you can install a biometric attendance monitor. I guarantee you that all the uncles in the office will even forget the aunties back home as they will have lots to work on. :)
HR needs to be innovative and mischievous at times.
Saurav Das
Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
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29I have appreciated two of the comments above, and in Kolkata, especially in a Marwadi-owned family set-up, the initial business was based on trading and all of it was based on trust. Later on, the culture was more about "chalta-hai" kind, and people took their jobs for granted or else they had political clout to make their employers squirm. Given that there is a new government in Bengal, things have not changed much. That attitude of taking things for granted has to be stopped.
Now, being a young girl in HR, which is often not taken seriously, I am sharing with you a wicked way of putting those uncles on the hot seat. You will have to take the boss into confidence. Find out how many of those 60 uncles are his pets. Then make a list of those who aren't and what they do. Then start hiring either full-time employees or interns for the same work they do. Pretend that the uncles will be eased out if they do not start working. This will do the job and keep them on their toes.
Next wicked way is to install CCTV. This is simpler. Keep the monitor in the boss's cabin. Everyone will work. Also, you can install a biometric attendance monitor. I guarantee you that all the uncles in the office will even forget the aunties back home as they will have lots to work on. :)
HR needs to be innovative and mischievous at times.
Saurav Das
Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
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Hi everyone,
In my view, we should allow them to habilitate for a boss-free environment. The reason being, top management cannot sit and make the employees work all the time and ensure the deliverables, ignoring their strategic plans and actions to take the organization forward.
This situation is happening just because the boss is monitoring the floor entirely. To avoid this, ask your boss to head the departments and delegate the work accordingly where the department heads will be responsible for work monitoring and deliverables. This will actually make your boss free to drive the workforce in the exact way.
Even if you have concerns that this may not work out, my question is, how many days can your employees sit idle or talk - one day, two days, three days, or four days? I am sure that after those days, they will get bored being idle and will start working on their own. I trust this will work out because this has happened in my organization too. The only thing is you should take a little risk with the trial and error method.
From India, Bangalore
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In my view, we should allow them to habilitate for a boss-free environment. The reason being, top management cannot sit and make the employees work all the time and ensure the deliverables, ignoring their strategic plans and actions to take the organization forward.
This situation is happening just because the boss is monitoring the floor entirely. To avoid this, ask your boss to head the departments and delegate the work accordingly where the department heads will be responsible for work monitoring and deliverables. This will actually make your boss free to drive the workforce in the exact way.
Even if you have concerns that this may not work out, my question is, how many days can your employees sit idle or talk - one day, two days, three days, or four days? I am sure that after those days, they will get bored being idle and will start working on their own. I trust this will work out because this has happened in my organization too. The only thing is you should take a little risk with the trial and error method.
From India, Bangalore
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Dear Aparna,
You need to be very careful even when suggesting employee surveillance using CCTV, as it may worsen matters. Please see Employee Surveillance - Your Privacy.
I am not an HR expert. As an HR person, you do not have direct authority over the 60 workers. I am sure there must be managers to whom the workers report at the HO, and not all workers report directly to the owner/chairman. If that is the case, what are the managers doing and what are they paid for? I worked for a large organization that was family-owned. The company had weekly/monthly meetings at different levels to check productivity, customer complaints, etc. The minutes of the meetings were scrutinized, and summaries of any deviations and actions to be taken were sent to the Chairman's office.
As mentioned before, unless you provide details of the scenario, it is not easy to guide you in the absence of complete details.
From United Kingdom
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You need to be very careful even when suggesting employee surveillance using CCTV, as it may worsen matters. Please see Employee Surveillance - Your Privacy.
I am not an HR expert. As an HR person, you do not have direct authority over the 60 workers. I am sure there must be managers to whom the workers report at the HO, and not all workers report directly to the owner/chairman. If that is the case, what are the managers doing and what are they paid for? I worked for a large organization that was family-owned. The company had weekly/monthly meetings at different levels to check productivity, customer complaints, etc. The minutes of the meetings were scrutinized, and summaries of any deviations and actions to be taken were sent to the Chairman's office.
As mentioned before, unless you provide details of the scenario, it is not easy to guide you in the absence of complete details.
From United Kingdom
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My opinion is that those who don't work when the manager is not in the office have a few underlying reasons:
1. Some employees lack interest in their current job tasks. It is crucial to assign them work that aligns with their interests to boost engagement. They should develop a passion for their job and actively participate in their roles.
2. Certain employees find achieving targets easy due to their exceptional skills and intelligence. Setting higher targets or assigning additional responsibilities related to their interests can further motivate them. Providing learning opportunities is also beneficial.
3. As Chandra Prakash mentioned, a lack of motivation is evident. Offering occasional monetary incentives can help motivate these individuals to fully engage in their work.
Best of luck.
Regards,
Panisha A S
From India, Bangalore
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1. Some employees lack interest in their current job tasks. It is crucial to assign them work that aligns with their interests to boost engagement. They should develop a passion for their job and actively participate in their roles.
2. Certain employees find achieving targets easy due to their exceptional skills and intelligence. Setting higher targets or assigning additional responsibilities related to their interests can further motivate them. Providing learning opportunities is also beneficial.
3. As Chandra Prakash mentioned, a lack of motivation is evident. Offering occasional monetary incentives can help motivate these individuals to fully engage in their work.
Best of luck.
Regards,
Panisha A S
From India, Bangalore
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In India, the CCTV is the de facto boss. Nobody cares about privacy, and nobody knows about such a policy either. It's as common as lampposts on almost every street corner. You see CCTVs almost everywhere nowadays. Every office in Mumbai has one somewhere. The idea is to call it a 'hidden camera,' or if you love your employees, then use a dummy. Do not connect the wires.
Tea business is something which is auction-based and it leaves a lot of time for everyone. Get employees to cut down on office time. Make them leave the office by 5 pm daily, no later, so that pending work is there when the boss is not around. Set deadlines. Ask them to explore, get them involved in learning or community service, and ask them to generate reports that are at least 5 years old. Let your imagination run wild.
From India, Mumbai
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Tea business is something which is auction-based and it leaves a lot of time for everyone. Get employees to cut down on office time. Make them leave the office by 5 pm daily, no later, so that pending work is there when the boss is not around. Set deadlines. Ask them to explore, get them involved in learning or community service, and ask them to generate reports that are at least 5 years old. Let your imagination run wild.
From India, Mumbai
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Hi Aparna,
Whenever I have faced those kinds of issues in the past, the thing that has always worked for me is "Divide and Rule." Try to get a couple of senior members on your side by motivating them with the prospect of a hike or promotion if they pull up their sleeves and have a clear chance to lead the herd. Of course, my situation was a little different as I was dealing with a bunch of software engineers, but you can try this out.
All the best.
Cheers!
Pallav Thakker
From India, Mumbai
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Whenever I have faced those kinds of issues in the past, the thing that has always worked for me is "Divide and Rule." Try to get a couple of senior members on your side by motivating them with the prospect of a hike or promotion if they pull up their sleeves and have a clear chance to lead the herd. Of course, my situation was a little different as I was dealing with a bunch of software engineers, but you can try this out.
All the best.
Cheers!
Pallav Thakker
From India, Mumbai
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It's a totally wrong concept. Ask your Chairman/Owner, as they are cultured in professional entrepreneurship. First of all, they should not maintain a status of fear or a boss concept. In their absence, people should be free of fear or retaliation. Who is creating the atmosphere of "Fear"? The actual concept of a Manager is - if a subordinate is failing or finding a task difficult, then the boss or Manager is required to perform that job. If an employee is perfect, then what is the use of the boss or Manager? The Chairman/Owner is not running the business; they consider themselves the King of their Kingdom, and all employees should bow their heads in front of them.
Human nature is such that every person always resists "Compulsion". It is wrong to assume that the output is low when the Chairman/Owner is not in the office; then how is the business running?
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Human nature is such that every person always resists "Compulsion". It is wrong to assume that the output is low when the Chairman/Owner is not in the office; then how is the business running?
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Hi Aparna,
Please make a strict rule that each and every employee should maintain a daily work status book. This book should include the Date, Time, and Activity done. Through this, we will be able to track individual work statuses. At the end of the week, please collect the list of pending works. This will help HR to assess each employee's contribution towards the organization, enabling us to rate every employee effectively.
Thank you.
From India, Bangalore
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Please make a strict rule that each and every employee should maintain a daily work status book. This book should include the Date, Time, and Activity done. Through this, we will be able to track individual work statuses. At the end of the week, please collect the list of pending works. This will help HR to assess each employee's contribution towards the organization, enabling us to rate every employee effectively.
Thank you.
From India, Bangalore
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Why do people not work when the boss is out of the office? The reasons could be:
A) Employees are working under strict control and performing their duties.
B) All decisions are taken by the boss, and they are not empowered to make decisions.
C) There are no criteria to measure the performance of employees.
From India, Bahadurgarh
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A) Employees are working under strict control and performing their duties.
B) All decisions are taken by the boss, and they are not empowered to make decisions.
C) There are no criteria to measure the performance of employees.
From India, Bahadurgarh
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I completely agree with Chandrakukalta's and K. Shenbagarajan's views. Also, I would add that if work is related to fear and not responsibility, these situations are bound to arise.
There should be a mechanism to make people responsible for their work, measure them, and reward and recognize the good and continuous performers. This will not only be a motivation for the employees to work efficiently but also promote healthy competition among them. You can reward an employee for automating a simple task or for not having any backlog of work, etc. You can give a letter of appreciation, a small token, or even pin his photograph on the display board. For three consecutive appreciations, you may consider sponsoring a lunch for his family at a good restaurant. This will boost his morale to perform continuously and motivate him to stay competitive.
Just as a coin has two sides, along with a reward program, you should also have a stick method to address non-performance by introducing a Performance Improvement Program (PIP) and warning letters to maintain the balance.
Rajani Ingle
From India, Mumbai
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There should be a mechanism to make people responsible for their work, measure them, and reward and recognize the good and continuous performers. This will not only be a motivation for the employees to work efficiently but also promote healthy competition among them. You can reward an employee for automating a simple task or for not having any backlog of work, etc. You can give a letter of appreciation, a small token, or even pin his photograph on the display board. For three consecutive appreciations, you may consider sponsoring a lunch for his family at a good restaurant. This will boost his morale to perform continuously and motivate him to stay competitive.
Just as a coin has two sides, along with a reward program, you should also have a stick method to address non-performance by introducing a Performance Improvement Program (PIP) and warning letters to maintain the balance.
Rajani Ingle
From India, Mumbai
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